


sunrise

by dasyuridae



Series: drabbles with lower case titles to seem edgy [2]
Category: The Adventure Zone (Podcast)
Genre: Post-Canon, or mid canon i guess since ep69 jumps forwards
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-02
Updated: 2018-06-02
Packaged: 2019-05-17 02:38:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 663
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14823644
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dasyuridae/pseuds/dasyuridae
Summary: 365 days after Story and Song, Taako, Lup and Barry watch a new year arrive together





	sunrise

**Author's Note:**

> will i ever stop writing drabbles in 30 minutes and not editing them? spoilers: no. this is just another lil exploration of how the ipre are affected by their adventures, because that's literally all I think about

Taako counts days. They all do. After story and song, when his memories return, the clock comes back too. In the back of his head, always, a timer clicks over every morning. It’s force of habit. One day Kravitz mentions that day, jokes about it.   
“Remember four months ago when you summoned me out of a giant circle of sapphire?” he says, laughing. “And you think I wouldn’t answer my Stone of Farspeech? I’m not risking it.”  
Taako laughs too, but he takes a moment to correct him. “Not four months, babe. Five. 163 days.”  
Kravitz gives him a look, but he doesn’t say anything. He never does. Not when Taako counts days, not when he wakes up screaming in the middle of the night, not when he stares in the mirror, staring at his face free from glamour. Kravitz never mentions it because Taako doesn’t. 

The first year is the hardest. For the week before 365, Taako is on edge. He wakes up early and every day he takes a deep breath before stepping outside, too nervous that he’ll see a storm approaching. He doesn’t mention it to the others, but he knows they feel the same. Magnus calls him more than usual, Merle comes by for an unannounced visit. Davenport comes back from sailing, staying on land for the time being. And then it is the morning of 365, and Taako wakes up with a jolt. It hums in the back of his mind, a constant soundtrack. 365. 365. He looks at Kravitz, who is lying peacefully asleep, and gets up carefully so as not to wake him. His Stone of Farspeech is sitting on his bedside table and he grabs it, making his way into the living room. Before he can make his own call, Lup’s voice crackles through.  
“You there, babe?” she asks.   
“Yeah Lulu, what’s up?”   
Taako can hear the smile in Lup’s voice when she answers. “Just checking you’re around, you know, wouldn’t want to forget my twin would I? That would just be _heinous_.”  
“Oi, fuck off.” replies Taako eloquently. “Have you been outside yet?”  
There's a pause, the faint crackle of the stone the only thing he can hear. “Nah. Too early. It’s still dark out.”  
Taako hums agreement. “Wanna watch the sunrise together Lu?”   
He takes the Stone and pushes the door open cautiously. It’s still dark, and seeing the dark expanse of sky makes him shudder.   
“Still there?” comes Lup’s voice.   
“Yeah. I’m still here.”   
Taako sits on the bench outside of his house, curling his legs up to his chest. He clings to the watery moon, the wavering stars, as signs that the darkness outside was natural. It’s silent for a while, when there’s another crackle from the Stone.  
“Morning.” comes a gruff voice Taako recognises as Barry.  
“Hey, Barold. Sleep well?”  
Barry scoffs. “Slept like a fucking baby, Taako - in bursts interspersed by crying.”  
The call goes silent again, the joke too raw to get more than a sigh. The sky is lightening now, the darkness becoming a deep blue. Even though they’re not speaking, the sounds of movement from the Stone Taako holds is comforting. He’s not alone in sitting here, waiting, hoping for the sun to rise. And it does. The weak winter sun sends its rays over the horizon, and there is no hint of black opal in the grey sky.    
Lup’s laugh comes through the stone. “Well, that was anticlimactic.”  
Taako grins. 365. It doesn’t mean anything anymore. It doesn’t mean leaving, doesn’t mean dying, doesn’t mean another near-disaster. It’s just a year. He feels light, relaxed. He had itched to run, the habit too hard to break. So easy to leave, to try again another year. Now, he knows he doesn't have to. “Yeah.” he agrees, standing up. “Anticlimactic. Catch you on the flip, lovebirds.”  
Taako stretches and disconnects the call, then heads back inside. To his boyfriend, to his company, to his new life. Home.   


**Author's Note:**

> thanks for reading! come chat with me about taz at chlckenwlngs.tumblr.com!


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